Cake-forming device.



Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- H. W. EAKINS.

CAKE FORMING DEVICE.

- APPLICATION men FEB. 26. 1914.

H. W. EAKINS. CAKE roams DEVICE. APPLICATION man ee. 26, m4. I 1,176,949. Y Patented Mar, 28,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' L y W 144% 17 Q13 1, 72 7 i /Ai 7 A? 71 1 4- m 5 I5 12 R Y WWW THE COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH CO WASHINGTON, D. c.

H-.- w. EAKINS. v CAKE FORMING DEVICE.

APPUCATIDN FILED FEB- 26. I914.

1,176,949.; Patented Mar. 28,1916.

3SHEETS-SHEET3.

fi i 5 m3 cpLUMBiA PMNOURAPH $0., WASHINGTON, D. C.

The mold cavities are provided with a mov:

HERBERT w. EAKINS, or SPRINGFIELD, 01110.

CAKE-FORMING DEVICE.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

Application filed February 26, 1914. Serial No. 821,345.

To aZ Z whom it may concern:

Be i known that LHenernrr W. EAKTNS, acitizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Clark and Stateof Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cake-Forming Devices, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing. V

This invention relates to cake-forming devices and is designed more particularly for use with a device for forming pop-corn confections, which latter consist of pop-corn mixed with a suitable binder of syrup or the like and pressed into cake form. Theobject .ofthe invention is two-fold. Themain purpose is to facilitate andeXpedite the formation of the cakes by performing the several operations in such a manner that the .molds can be filled, the. cakes formed ejected from the molds and dis charged from the machine with a very small amount of labor and no handling after the filling of the molds, and that the formed cakes may have an opportunity to set or harden before they are "discharged, thus preventing the cakes from being injured when they ared'ischarged. A further purpose of the invention is to'so construct the device as to render it-very compact and to provide devices to automatically aline the molds with the plungers which compress the material therein. V

In the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 is a plan view of a device embodying-my invention, partly broken away; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line :0 so of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the upper portion of the apparatus showing the parts in position for ejecting the cakes from the mold; Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the mold refilled and in position to discharge the ejected cakes from the table; and Fig. 5 is a detailzview of'the bottom-plate.

. In carrying out myrinvention I provide a work table having thereon and preferably near oneiend thereof a receptacle for the mass of material which is'to be formed into cakes. Mounted: on.-the tab1e adjacent to the" receptacle is the cake-forming device proper consisting-of the molds and plungers which enter the molds to-compress the cakes.

. able closure at their lower ends which will clcsethe cavities during the: compressing operation while the cakes are being formed parts.

and which may be moved away from the cavities to open the same and permit the' cakes to be ejected from the cavities by further movement of the plungers, thereby forming and e ecting the cakes by What is practically a single operation. Further, the

proven highly satisfactory in practice. Ths

device comprises atable 1 having mounted thereon and depending therefrom a receptacle 2, adapted to contain the mass of material which is to be worked. Inasmuch as this material is usually warm to facilitate the handling and working thereof the receptacle is shown as having double walls to form a space 3 to contain warm water, a burner, being arranged below the receptacle if desired. This receptacle is preferably mounted near one end of the table and on the opposite end of the table and adjacent to the receptacle is mounted the cake-forming devices proper which, as here shown, comprise a series of plungers 4 depending from a common support 5 which is in the form of a plate rigdly secured to upright members 6 slidably mounted on the table and held normally in their uppermost positions bymeans of springs 7.. These upright members are provided at their lower ends with toothed racks 8 which mesh with segmental pinions 9 mounted on acommon shaft 10 whereby the several plungers may be simultaneously moved downward against the tension of the springs 7. This movement of the plungers is accomplished by means of an actuating lever 11 rigidly secured to one end of the shaft '10 and preferably projecting toward that end of the table where th operator stands.

The mold which cooperates with the plungers to form the cakes, as above stated, comprises a plurality of cavities, one for each plunger. "In the present form of the device I have, shown the 'mold as comprising two One part 'maV be termed a mold plate. 12, having therein a plurality of cylindrical cavities 13 open at both ends and of adiameter slightly greater than the diameter of the plungers 4, whereby when the cavities have been filled with material to be formed into cakes and placed beneath the plungers, the plungers may... enter the. cavities and compress the materialtherein.

The second partof the mold is a movable bottom plate 1% of a size substantially equal to the mold plate and adapted to be sup-,

ported beneath the mold plate and close to the under side thereof to closethe bottoms of the several cavities. This-bottom plate may be of any suitable character but ashere shown it has a continuous upper surface and is provided on three sides with depending flanges 15 which form supports therefor and enable the same to be moved over thesurface of the table 1; Itis also provided with stops or pinsilG to position the same with relation to the molding plate. This latter plate is supported independently of the bottom plate while beneath the plun- Igers and preferably at all times, although receptacle.

not necessarily so. In thepresent construction tracks 17 are arranged along the opposite sides of thetable 1 and the end portions of the mold plate rest upon the respective tracks, the height of the traclgs being such as-to support the mold plate'in proper relation to the bottom plate. As a result of independently supporting the mold-plate and making the bottom plate movable relatively thereto, as well as relatively to the plungers, I am enabled to utilize the plungers, first. to press the material in the mold cavities into cake form and then by a furthermoveinent of the plungers to' eject' the material from the cavities. V

, In the operation of. the device the bottom plate is withdrawn from beneath the plungers into position above the receptacle 2'and when in this position it extends over a very considerable portion of the top of the receptacle and aids materially in preiventing thetoo rapid cooling of the mass of warm material within the receptacle. jVVhile in this position the'inold plate is placed upon the same and filled from the left at the edge of the receptacle to afiord access thereto, or a dipperful of material 'may be removed from the receptacle before the bottom plate is entirely withdrawn.

When all the moldcavities have been'filled the bottom plate is pushed into position beneath the plunger-s and the stops-engaging theinold plate cause the same tomove along the bottom plate. When the mold is in position beneath the plungers the lever 11 is manipulated to move the plungers downward and cause the same to enterthe mold cavities 13. In this connection it may be noted that means are provided for causing the mold cavities'to be properly alinedwith the plungers, therebv preventing the plungers from engagingthe surface-of the mold normal or idlepositions.

Eithersufiicient space may be latter are moved downward the plungers for the cavities having the alining'devices 'will engage the inclined edges of these lugs and will ;move the mold plateas a whole, bringing the remaining cavities into alinement with their respective plungers, this being accomplished automatically and without any interruption in the operation for the cake forming apparatus. The downward movement of the plunger is continued until the material has been COIIIPIGSSBCblIlfiO a cake of the desired consistency; Themovea ment of the plungers is then interrupted and the bottom plate 14 withdrawn, leaving the mold plate alone supported between the plungers and the table top;1.' A further downwardmovement isthen imparted tof.

the plunger s, causing them toeject the cake orcakes from the mold cavities onto the table top. The lever is then released-and the springs 7 elevate the plungers totheir A mold-plate, either tlie one which has just been used or another one, is placed upon th'ejbottom plate which is now in filling position, andis filled. The movement of the bottom plate and mold plate into position-beneath theplungers to compress this new lot of material in the cavities'cau'ses the "forward edge of-th'e bottom plate to engage the cakes which havepreviously been e]ected from the mold cavities and to push the same from thetable 1 top onto 'an inclined-chute-18 which may lead either to a receptacle, 'traveling; 'belt' The formed or any other suitable point. cakes having been allowed to remain on the table top during the second, filling. op-

eration-have had an opportunity to set or permit the binder to'become suiliciently har- V dened to preventanyseriousiniui yj tobe done to the cakes by the discharging opera tion.. The mold having ibeei flagain placed beneath the plunger's 'thepperation is re peated as abovedescnbed and iscarri'e'd on i in this manner untilthe mass otmaterial in the receptaclei'is exhausted. i

It will be noted: that b 1 meansofthis r device it isnecessary-tohandle the-material but onceand that is when itris filledinto the "mold cavities: The compressing of the material into cake form and 'the ejecting of-the formed cakes frointl eimold'is'accomplished .5 r by practically a: single operation of theplun- 3 gers, the movement of the plungers being interrupted only long enough to permit the bottom of the cavities being opened by the withdrawal of the bottom plate. It is not necessary to remove the mold from the formmg position and eject the formed cakes by a second operation, as is customary, nor is it necessary to gather up the formed cakes by hand, as has been customary heretofore, these being automatically discharged from the table by the return of the mold into forming position. Further, this construction enables the size of the table and the apparatus as a whole to be materially reduced, as it does away with the necessity of providing space for a second ejecting operation and for the handling of the parts that was necessary in former constructions. Moreover, the mold plates are automatically alined with the plungers whenever they are within a reasonable distance of alinement and the bottom plate itself forms a closure in part, at least, for the open upper end of the material receptacle 2 and assists greatly in preventing the too rapid cooling of the mass of material therein. 7

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention it will be understood that this has been chosen for the purposes of illustration only, and that I do not desire to be limited to the details of construction, shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. c

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A cake formlng devlce comprismg a table, plungers mounted above said table,

a mold plate supported above and spaced a short distance from said table and having cavities to receive the material from which the cakes are to be formed, said cavities being open at both ends and said mold plate being movable to bring the cavities into alinement with the respective plungers, a bottom plate supported between said mold plate and said table to close the lower ends 7 of said cavities, said bottom plate being movable in unison with, and in a direction parallel with the direction of-movement of, said mold plate, to move the same into position beneath said plungers and being movable independently of said mold plate to enable it to be withdrawn from beneath said mold plate while the latter is in position beneath said plungers, and means to cause said plungers to enter the respective cavities in said mold plate and compress the material cakes onto said table after said bottom plate has been moved out of alinement with said cavities.

2. A cake-forming device comprising a table, a plunger mounted above said table, a mold plate supported between said plunger and said table and having a cavity to receive the material, said cavity being open at both ends, means to cause said plunger to enter one end of said cavity, a bottom plate supported between said mold plate and said table to close the other end of said cavity and movable relatively to said cavity and said plunger to permit the formed cake to be ejected from said cavity onto said table, said bottom plate and table being so ar ranged that when said bottom plate is again moved into position beneath said plunger it will engage the cake previously ejected and discharge the same.

3. A cake forming device comprising a table, a mold supported above said table and consisting of two parts, one of said parts having through and through openings therein forming molding cavities, the other of said parts being movable with and inclependently of the first-mentioned part and forming a closure for said openings when in one position relative thereto, said closure being movable into another position relative to said first-mentioned part to permit the cakes to be ejected from said cavities onto said table, and being arranged to engage the ejected cakes and discharge the same when returned to its first-mentioned position and plungers cooperating with said mold to form and eject the cakes.

4. A cake-forming device comprising a table, a receptacle supported by said table and having an open upper end, forming plungers mounted above said table at one side of said receptacle, and a mold movable into and out of a position beneath said plungers and comprising a mold plate and a bottom plate, said mold being so arranged that when it is in its outer or filling position said mold plate will be located above and close to the open upper end of said receptacle to partially close the same.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HERBERT W. EAKINS.

Nitnesses:

R. E. THOMAS, C. C. KILCAYNE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D; C. 

